dusenbury



(No Model.)-

W. W. DUSENBURY.

Manufactured Ice.

No 240,396. Patented April 19,1881.

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MPETQRS, PHOTO-LITHDGRAFNER, WASHINGTON. n10.

llmren STATES PATENT QFFICEO l/VILLIAM W. DUSENBURY, OF BROOKLYN, NEWYORK.

MANUFACTURE OF ICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 240,396, dated April19, 1881,

Application filed September 17, 1880. (No model.)

storage of ice, having the walls in horizontal sections arranged to bebuilt up to inclose the successive layers or sheets of water withoutinterfering with the free exposure of the surface of the water to thefreezing atmosphere, and adapted to form non-heat-conducting andpermanent walls for inclosing the body of ice and preserving it againstthe actionof the exterior atmosphere; secondly, it consists in an outeror inclosing house or shell, surrounding the ice house or receptacle,and provided with non-conducting walls or curtains adapted to be readilyadjusted to expose the inner ice house or receptacle, and the watertherein to the action of the cold exterior air, or to shut in the saidhouse or receptacle and thereby prevent the admission of heat to theinterior of the ice-house lastly, the invention consists of details ofconstruction which will be fully described farther on in thespecification. 1n the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a sideelevation of myimproved ice house or receptacle. Fig. 2 represents avertical section of the same, taken on line 00 0c of Fig. 1. Fig. 3represents a horizontal section of the house, taken on line y g of Fig.1.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the, floor orbot-tom of thehouse or receptacle, which may be made in any suitable manner to holdwater and serve as a non-conductor of heat.

B represents uprights or posts rising from the floor A. These, posts areprovided with double parallel grooves a a, which may be rabbeted intothe posts, or formed of channel-iron fixed to the posts, as may bepreferred. The house or receptacle may be divided into as many floors orcompartments as may be desiredv by horizontal partitions or floors. Inthe drawings two such compartments, D D, are represented, divided by apartition or floor, E, which may be arranged with air-spaces I), to makeit a non-conductor of heat, or it may be made non-conductive in anyother suitable compartments of the same size, if required, or

they may be fixed at irregular distances, formin g compartments ofdifferentsizes and capacities, if preferred; but if it is desired tohave the compartments of varying size and capacity the floors orpartitions may be unconnected with the posts and supported by screws,weights, or other suitable devices that will permit the said floors orpartitions to be raised and lowered to vary their distances from eachother, and from the floor of the house or receptacle. The latter methodis the preferable one, as, in case the compartment cannot be filled withice, from any cause, the floors or partitions may be lowered to the topof the ice in the compartments below, whereby currents of air areexcluded and the ice protected against exposure. This arrangement isalso advantageous on account of the facility it offers for getting theice out of the liouse, as when the lower compartments are emptied thoseabove can be lowered one after the other and the ice taken out close tothe ground. The division of the ice house or receptacle intocompartments also facilitates the manufacture of the ice, as will appearwhen the operation is described.

The top F of the house or receptacle may be a frame-work connect-ing thetops of the posts B, or it may be a double ceiling, similar inconstruction to the floors or partitions E.

The walls of the house or receptacle are intended to be in horizontalsections adapted to be taken out and replaced without difficulty. Bypreference these sections may be composed of planks or plates I, of anysuitable material. The ends of the planks or plates should be adapted toform a water-tight connection with the grooves a a, and theiredges maybe matched for the same purpose, so that when the sections are put inplace the walls G will be water-tight but to insure water-tight jointspacking or calking may be employed. The spaces f between the inner andouter walls maybe filled in with any suitable non-conducting material asthe sections are built up. The outer house or inclosing-shell should beof sufficiently large dimensions to leave working room between its innerwalls and the walls of the inner house or receptacle. The outer housemay be made in the following manner: Posts or uprights L rise from thefloor of the ice-house and support a roof or top, M, which may be madeimpervious to heat by double walls with an air-space between, or in anyother suitable manner. The uprights are provided with double grooves gg.

N N represent curtains which run in the grooves g g. These curtains maybe made of iron or wooden slats strung on wires or bands, so as to rollup on the barrels O, or they may be made of paper, felt, or any othersuitable material having sufficient strength and imperviousness toheatfor the purpose. The eurtain-s are supported by the barrels orrollers O, which may be provided with cranks to roll up the curtains, orthey may be provided with springs to automatically roll up and unrollthe curtains when they are raised and lowered,or other suitable powermay be employed.

The object of having the walls of the outer house or shell adapted toopen and shut is to permit the interior house or receptacle to beinclosed for the purpose of excluding heat and currents of air, andprotect it against changes in the exterior atmosphere, and also topermit the house or shell to be completely opened when the water is tobe exposed to a freezing atmosphere and slight air-currents during theformation of the ice in the receptacle. I do not, however, confinemyself to the use of rolling curtains for this purpose, as doors,sliding walls, or removable walls may be substituted for them, or anyother arrangements that will permit the inner house or receptacle to bequickly and easily inclosed and thrown open at will.

In Fig. l the curtains are represented as part way down. closing up thesides of the house.

The water from which the ice is formed may be supplied from astand-pipe, main, by pumping, or in any other convenient manner.

The operation of the invention is as follows: When there is sufficientcold to produce ice the curtains or side walls, N, are raised or openedto admit the freezing atmosphere. The sectional walls I, which should beof a depth that experience may dictate to be most available, areremoved, with the exception of one or more of the bottom ones, as shownin Fig. 1, so as to leave a space inclosed by the section s, whichshould not, however, be so high as to protect the water within from themost favorable action of the freezing atmosphere: \Vater is now run intothe space inclosed by the sections to a depth adapted to the degree ofcold prevailing, the object being to obtain a sheet or layer of waterthat will freeze solid as quickly as possible. This sheet or layer isallowed to freeze, then another quantity of water is run on top of thesheet of ice formed by the first sheet of water, so as to form asuperimposed sheet, and this is allowed to freeze in like manner as thefirst. This is continued until the space inclosed by the sections isnearly filled, when other sections are added, as indicated by the dottedlines in Fig. 1, and the process is continued until the ice-house orcompartment thereof (if compartments are employed) is filled. The effectof this process is to form a solid body of ice in the house entirelyfree from snow, and ofa purity equal to that'of the water from which itis formed, and this is accomplished without the waste, expense, andtrouble ordinarily expended in gathering ice and storing it. Owing tothe compactness of the body of ice obtained in this manner it is mucheasier preserved.

By having the ice-house divided into compartments the freezing operationcan be carried on in all the compartments simultaneously, and therebythe work of filling the house can be greatly expedited. For example,while a layer of water is being frozen in one compartment,D, anotherlayer may be freezing in compartment D, and so in every compartment inthe house.

As the sections I are placed in position to form the walls G, the spacesf between the sections may be filled in with any suitable nonconductingmaterial, or the material may be put in after the sections are all inplace. The space between the curtains or walls NN of the exterior housemay also be filled in, when the curtains are drawn down permanently,with a suitable material, and suitable weather-strips may be placed atthe junction of the curtains with the uprights or frames, to prevent theadmission of air.

Any one or more of the curtains orwalls N may be provided with asuitable door to give entrance to the ice-house, and the sectional wallsG of the interior ice house or receptacle may be arranged in anyconvenient manner to allow the ice to be taken out without trouble. InFig. 2 they are represented as I do not confine myself to the use of thegrooved uprights asaframe-workforthe houses, 1 as any suitableframe-work adapted to support the peculiar walls of the houses may besubstituted; neither do I propose to have the exterior house a permanentpart of the ice-house, as the latter may be built alone and the otherbuilt around it afterward, if it isrequired.

Some of the compartments-say, alternate ones-emay be used asrefrigerating roomsor chambers for the reception and storage ofperishable articles, 850.

I claim-- 1. As an improvement in the manufacture of ice, a house orreceptacle composed of a suitable frame-work, and non-heat-conductin gwalls G, formed of removable horizontal sections I, adapted to form thepermanent inclosing-walls for the ice, and to preserve the same againstthe action of the external atmosphere, substantially as herein shown anddescribed.

2. In combination with a suitable framework and non-heat-conductingwalls G, composed of removable horizontal sections I, the floor orpartition E, to divide the ice-house into compartments, each of which isadapted for the formation of ice from natural cold, and for the i, l l

storage and preservation of the ice when formed serving ice, an exteriorinclosin g house or shell in a solid body, substantially as herein showncomposed of a suitable frame-work and side 15 and described. walls,arranged to be opened for the admis- 3. An exterior house or inclosnrefor ice sion of cold air, and to be closed for excluding 5 houses orreceptacles composed of a suitable warm exterior air, and preventing theescape r frame-work, in combination with walls or curor radiation of thecold within the inclosing x A tains N, arranged for opening and closing,for house or shell, substantially as herein de- 20 the purpose ofadmitting cold air to the inscribed and shown. closed ice-house orexcluding warm air there- 1 10 from, as may be required, substantiallyas de- WILLIAM DUSENBURY' scribed and shown. Witnesses:

, 4. In combination with an ice house or re- JOHN D. JAMES,

ceptaole adapted for making, storing, and pre- SAMUEL KEELER.

